Posted
by
Soulskill
on Wednesday March 19, 2014 @04:53PM
from the it'll-send-you-a-text-asking-you-to-look-at-the-road dept.

cartechboy writes "Distracted driving is a large issue, and it's getting worse as we become more entangled with our technology. To help combat this growing problem Volvo is showing off new technology that allows the car to sense when a driver is tired or not paying attention. The system bathes the driver in infrared light that can pick up the driver's position and eye movements. If the driver becomes inattentive or begins to drift off to sleep, it will alert you. Besides the safety aspect of this system, it will also be able to recognize the person sitting behind the wheel, allowing the car to tailor itself to that person's stored preferences. Further, it will be able to adjust the vehicle's exterior lighting in the direction the driver is looking based on the detected eye movement. Volvo's quick to note the system can't photograph the driver. People, the future is coming, and your vehicle is going to be watching you."

Of course th car has that info. The in dash GPS usually had speed limit info these days, just to display the maximum speed for the road you are on. Assuming the GPS is on (it may be impossible to turn it off) it knows when you are speeding. That doesn't mean they should collect that data, let alone upload it to their servers. If thy do store that data it can and will be "requested" by the government. It may be that someone at Ford who decided that is too stupid to understand that.

No, he was a Catholic priest, Andrew Greely, wrote several novels and was in general, a thorn in the backside of the Catholic church. I only recall one bit from one of his novels, it was something sci fi and the gist was G-d was should have aimed a lightning bolt at a cluster of bishops.

The Pinto was 40 years ago. You conveniently overlooked the money they spent correcting that problem, and the fact that the Pinto has been out of production for a long time. That error didn't last the full run of the Pinto, for that matter.

But no, let's go ahead and line up to bash the American company. Need I remind you what the Japanese cars were like in the 1970s? Toyotas were barely able to reach freeway speed. Hondas were too small for a

According to the Indian journal of ophthalmology: IR radiation can lead to cataracts...
"The protein of eye lens is very sensitive to IR radiation which is hazardous and may lead to cataract."
Source: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pm... [nih.gov]

Studies (already linked in other responses) have shown that workplace exposure to IR radiation (e.g. working with molten glass) at what was thought to be a safe level can lead to an increased rate of development of cataracts. While I understand that this application is likely no more than a TV remote or what the Kinect already bathes Xbox users in, you can understand why some of us might want a bit more information before having it directed specifically at the eye. It may end up being that this is orders of

I'll bet it works as well as automatic headlights and automatic windshield wipers. Hell, even gas tank level sensors still suck. Engineers may design something that works, but by the time it makes it into a production vehicle it's been hacked up and cheapened and built out of flimsy plastic components to the point of being useless.

Engineers are like programmers. Their inclination to "do it right" is direct proportional to them being subjected to using their creation. Be honest, people, if you know you'll never ever have to use the piece of junk you create, how much effort will you put into it past what's necessary to get it to specs, even if you KNOW that the specs don't address something critical that will bite the user in the behind?

Engineers are like programmers. Their inclination to "do it right" is direct proportional to them being subjected to using their creation. Be honest, people, if you know you'll never ever have to use the piece of junk you create, how much effort will you put into it past what's necessary to get it to specs, even if you KNOW that the specs don't address something critical that will bite the user in the behind?

That is precisely why I think all automotive engineers should have to be ASE certified mechanics first - maybe then they'll think twice about doing stupid shit like putting the goddamn fuel filter behind the brake booster.

Be honest, people, if you know you'll never ever have to use the piece of junk you create, how much effort will you put into it past what's necessary to get it to specs, even if you KNOW that the specs don't address something critical that will bite the user in the behind?

You might get by with that if you write apps for smartphones, but not if you're doing anything serious. If one of my co-workers displayed that attitude I'd do my best to get their ass fired, but my boss would probably beat me to it. Most people will never "have to use" the flight control and target tracking software they write for a missile.

Everything you said is false.I mean, I can't imagine how you could be wrong on every single point, unless you are still driving that 82 Toyota.

The headlights recognize tail lights and won't go to bright when I'm following, the car can distinguish someone cutting me off, and brakes just enough to allow for the DIFFERENCE in speed, the blind spot monitoring works perfectly, (and I still turn my head because not all the cars I drive have this). Cross traffic detection is for when you are backing out of parkin

why don't we just be good drivers and pay attention to the road and our surroundings instead of trying to have technology do it for us to the point where we completely rely on it and end up killing people when it fails?

Because people suck at paying attention and giving a fine to people who mess with their phone, drive tired or somesuch just doesn't work. Driving a car is probably the most dangerous mode of transportation (dunno about walking or biking (warning: depends on country). Definitely more dangerous than flying). Making it safer is a good plan IMHO, even intermediate measures like this (end measure is pure automated driving, manual driving will be illegal on the road).

Well, technically, while you are sleeping your vehicle is driving itself... not necessarily where you want it to, but while you're sleeping, you're not the driver. You're a passenger. No matter what seat you're in.

They're not going to collect itThey won't be sending out signals to the policeThey won't be sending out data to your insurance companiesThey won't be collecting data for accident coverageThey won't be storing the data and combining it in other databases (ohh you just went to the gym? You just came back from your mistress's place and were tired?)They won't be selling it to your health insurance provider (xx was driving tired for extended periods of time, must have some disease, drop coverage immediately)Sorr

Sorry, there's too many reasons why not to get it and very little reason to get it.

I'm normally against technologies that are designed to make the driver dumber (lane assist, brake assist, parking assist) but in this case, I'm for it. Falling asleep at the wheel is dangerous. I once fell asleep behind the wheel, I managed to turn around two corners (and I drive a manual) before I woke up. I'm not sure if I was actually asleep but I cant remember how I got from street A to street B. Scared the living crap out of me and I stopped for a break as soon as I could find a park. Fatigue is the th

Considering that my 1998 Volvo V70 wagon (versatile) should last me another 20 years, and I'll be 73 then, this will come in handy when I'm ready to buy again. And if that dies, I still have my 2001 S60 to putz around in.

Being that I'm not a completely narcissistic imbecile, paying attention while driving is not an issue I have; hell, sometimes it feels like I'm the only one on the road who actually understands that the task of operating 2 tons of steel and rubber at high speeds should be the driver's primary focus. Not to say that I haven't fucked up, but I at least bothered to learn from my mistakes. Plus, I'm not so stupid/selfish/what-have-you that I would ignore fatigue and risk the lives of everyone around me by not p

That is easy. Automated cameras in cars that take photos with telemetry data and send to the police for automatic fines.

For example, punk kid cutting in a line, will he do it in front of the big 7 foot tall musclebound wrestler? will he do it in front of the guy with a pistol on his hip? or will he pick the little guy that looks defenseless?

If there were consequences do driving like a complete dooshbag people would not do it. camera in back

That is easy. Automated cameras in cars that take photos with telemetry data and send to the police for automatic fines.

Fines and "automated cameras" do not make people better drivers, evidenced by the fact that shitty drivers still exist. It just makes it easier for the government to turn shitty driving into a revenue stream and thus, give the government a disincentive to do anything about the problem.

If there were consequences do driving like a complete dooshbag people would not do it

Except, there are already consequences, and people still drive like shit.

I was thinking of something more along the lines of, you know, proper training. Criminal how most states give out licenses to operate heavy weapons after

The method is new. Most (all?) current systems use the lane departure warning system and steering wheel input to determine if the driver is drowsy, but they do not put a camera on the driver themselves. The current system on my Ford doesn't seem to work very well.

Why does everyone think that everything can be solved with technology? Oh, right, it's easier to sell than telling everyone they mostly suck at something and that they need to get better at it than, "here's a magic $product that will fix all your problems."

The problem is not technology, the problem is not our gadgets,; the problem is our collective attitude about driving and (lack of) training. Requirements to obtain (and retain) a driver's license in some countries would be shocking to most people in North America. Our standards are pathetic and woefully inadequate. Oh, you can follow some basic instructions that a chimp could do for 15 minutes? Here, now you can drive anything outside of a big rig, motorcycle or bus (unless it's an RV, because apparently, having fewer passengers magically turns it into an agile sports sedan... or something), including hauling your big-ass 5th wheel.

That shit doesn't fly in places where driving is taken seriously. Just Google "driving license in [European country]" and wait for your jaw to drop.

If we actually trained people to have vehicular and situational awareness, they would realize that it's a bad idea to be dicking around with their gizmos while operating a multi-ton projectile around hundreds of other multi-ton projectiles, pedestrians, cyclists and municipal structures... and we wouldn't be trying to develop bullshit tech like this or legislating laws ripe for abuse.

That kind of training takes years of practice, not 15 minutes in a mostly controlled situation. But you can't put that in a box and slap on a price sticker.

The problem is not technology, the problem is not our gadgets,; the problem is our collective attitude about driving and (lack of) training. Requirements to obtain (and retain) a driver's license in some countries would be shocking to most people in North America. Our standards are pathetic and woefully inadequate. Oh, you can follow some basic instructions that a chimp could do for 15 minutes? Here, now you can drive anything outside of a big rig, motorcycle or bus (unless it's an RV, because apparently, having fewer passengers magically turns it into an agile sports sedan... or something), including hauling your big-ass 5th wheel.

Ex-father by law is a truck driver and has a fit that no extra training or licensing is required for the RV's, 5th wheels, or such; and one point we do agree on. (USA)

Even the best drivers make mistakes. It's human nature, unavoidable. Safety devices make sense because we know that no matter how good the training is there will be failures.

The US does seem particularly bad, which is why for example I can exchange by UK license for Japanese one any time I like but an American has to take a further Japanese test. Even so, we have plenty of accidents due to drivers being distracted or tired.

My 2014 Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk with the Advanced Technology Group brings adaptive cruise control, forward-collision warning and mitigation, and blind-spot monitoring with cross-path detection with "lane assist" that will keep you in your lane and sound a warning and vibrate the wheel.

A few weeks ago someone posted here how he drove like a little old lady for 3 weeks with the Progressive dongle in his car. Then whe sent it back to Progressive and got a big discount on his insurance, though that differs greatly from this always on body scanner in TFS.

That would actually make perfect sense, insurance companies tend to give benefits to people exhibiting responsible behavior.

People exhibiting responsible behaviour have no need of a system to watch them and enforce rules. They would not drive when they felt very tired because it would be dangerous to do so. The only reason for the insurance companies to want this is because they are not sure that you are a responsible person.

The problem is with a system like this is that it has to never give a false positive. Even if one time in a million it gives a false positive there will be thousands of people every year who will suddenl

How tired is too tired though? I feel somewhat sleepy now (1527h Fri) not for any good reason, and yet I'll be driving home, we aren't talking long commute times here, about 15 minutes. Measuring fatigue levels like this would be useful.

More likely in my opinion is that "reduced" will mean "less than everyone else's when we put the prices up". Did average premiums go down when seatbelts became prevalent? What about ABS or any of the other safety features that are now so widespread?

Cloakroom attendants are used to seeing human waste, that doesn't mean I do my business on the floor. Firefighters sometimes come across charred bodies, but that's no reason not to take basic precautions against fires.

More seriously, though, in a low-speed collision at certain angle, a seatbelt can make the difference between the driver hitting their head, which may cause them to fall unconscious and lose control of the vehicle, and retaining control of the vehicle and the ability to avoid running over pedestrians, for example.

Any driver safety feature provides safety not only for the driver but also for all other drivers and people around the road. Whether each and every of those features should be made mandatory is

You don't shop much. Rear view cams can be had for $15 and a mirror monitor for about the same on Amazon, eBay, Alibaba, and other places. If you consider $30 to been incredibly pricey then may I suggest you join the 21st century and stop valuing costs like you're spending 1969 dollars. Cokes aren't a nickel and sadly a dime bag costs way more than a dime.

I've installed a couple now and I agree, the clip-over-your-existing-mirror mirror is cheap, flimsy, doesn't quite look right, and usually blocks visor operation. However if you spend a few more bucks you can get a real mirror with a monitor in it that attaches to the windshield mount replacing your OEM one. Those are much nicer and you can get them with compass, temperature, autodimming, and map lights depending on just how much you want to spend.

Even rear view cameras are still incredibly pricey add ons for most cars. I doubt much of this will be forced on us ( though with the current administration "knowing best" for how I should spend my money, who know)

The first cars didn't have rear view mirrors, and an unreliable source claimed the police worked hard to not have them installed as the drivers could see they were being followed.I could see it as being true due to my run-ins over tinted windows, they couldn't see in and didn't like that.

Even rear view cameras are still incredibly pricey add ons for most cars. I doubt much of this will be forced on us ( though with the current administration "knowing best" for how I should spend my money, who know)

The cost to provide it is just a small fraction of what they charge for it.

You got your Jesus on the dashboardBut the Devil's under my hoodYou're takin' it down legal, I'm pullin' it up to no goodGod is your copilot, I let Satan ride shotgunYou pay a toll to get to HeavenBut on the road to hell there's none

Get up you're asleep at the wheelGet up you're asleep at the wheelGet up you're asleep at the wheelGet up you're asleep at the wheelGet up you're asleep at the wheelGet up you're asleep at the wheelGet up you're asleep at the wheelGet up you're asleep at the wheel

Car: Ding, ding ding, your door is ajar, your door is ajar.Owner: I know, fuck off.Car: Ding, ding, ding, your door continues to be ajar, your door continues to be ajar.Owner: Blow it out your ass.Car: DING, DING, DING, You are failing to recognize a serious condition, I would like to talk to you about this. You are failing to recognize a serious condition, I would like to talk to you about it.Owner: Cram it, I'm armed.Car: DING, DONG, DING, DONG, I will be forced to inform your insurance company if we do n